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The Wombats - The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation |
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Written by Ryan Hogan
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Jul 07, 2008 at 12:45 PM |
Artist: The Wombats
Album: The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation
Release: 06.24.2008
Label: 14th Floor Records
Rating: 6.5 of 10
Scouse is an accent you’ll hear in Liverpool. If you want to know what scouse sounds like just listen to The Wombat’s UK debut, The Wombats Proudly Present: A Guide to Love, Loss & Desperation. On that album you’ll hear what scouse sounds like. You’ll really hear what scouse sounds like. I mean you’ll really hear a lot and lot of scouse. Yes, Wombat’s front man Matthew Murphy’s accent, as well as his singing, grate after a while, but fortunately The Wombat’s never do… well, at least not until track 10.
The song most likely to wear down your media player’s stylus is the memorable and mesmerizing “Kill the Director.” This rocker also contains one of the album’s best lyrics: “so with the angst of a teenage band/here’s another song about a gender I’ll never understand.”
Wombat’s self aware, self effacing and astute lyrics are what really makes their album charming and captivating. Let’s face it; their song writing is nothing spectacular—simple structures with a plethora of short, melodic, repeating chants. Their pedestrian music is composed of rapid, jingly chords and ubiquitous background vocals oozing a lot of “oh’s” and ah’s.” But you can get away with all that when you sing lines like: “let’s dance to Joy Division and celebrate the irony;” “we’re the fairies from hell and we’re all on a death wish;” and “it was a chat-up line built not to impress/more a sleazy remark on her whorish dress.”
Murphy, the band’s song writer, is quite aware of his propensity to pen peculiar lyrics. In “Here Comes the Anxiety” he sings: “I’d say that this is the darkest song I ever wrote/no hint of a smile or the unusually quirky antidote.” This self awareness is refreshing and attractive. Furthermore, the Wombat’s lyrics aren’t quirky for quirky sake. Their lyrics mean something—their songs relatable and their topics universal.
“Kill The Director” is about being infatuated with an unattainable girl. “Backfire At The Disco” is about being on a date and saying the absolute wrong thing for absolute no reason. “Party In A Forest (Where's Laura?) is about feeling out of place at a rave because you’re away from the person you love. “School Uniforms” is about the one who got away (in awkward grade school) and “Lost in the Post” is about a bad breakup.
The album begins with a tale about girls, boys and marsupials called, “Tales of Girls, Boys and Marsupials.” This engaging a cappella number, reminiscent of the fake commercials from “The Who Sell Out,” is the last filler on the album until you start reaching double digit track numbers. While this mitigates how long you have to listen to Murphy’s irritating vocals it does prevent the album from rising to greatness. Still, those eight tracks are really good.
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